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Alcoholic Beverage Ads and Portrayals on TV

by David J. Hanson, Ph.D.

Alcohol beverage ads on television are often criticized by the
Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY), the Alcohol Policies
Project at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI),
and the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) and similar
interest groups.

“A 12 -year-old watches an ad and sees highly attractive
young grown-ups spending social time together, enjoying exotic
locations and relishing the product being advertised, all accompanied
by great music on the soundtrack. If this is an ad for a car,
the use of which is forbidden to young people, it’s fine;
if it is beer, the ad is corrupting.”

Ms. Bradford then raises an important question:

“Why is it OK for young people to get a good impression
of the cars they hope to drive someday (‘Vroom, vroom,”
anyone?) but not OK for then to think of beer in a similar positive
light?

“Industry or critics, can’t we bring ourselves to
say that alcoholic beverages are one of the neat perks of adulthood:
They’re fun, they bring people together, they taste wonderful.
I don’t see why we should pretend otherwise in front of
the children.”

But won’t alcohol ads lead young people to drink? No. Research
for decades by governments, health agencies and universities around
the world has never found that such ads induce non-drinkers to begin
drinking. Alcohol ads continue because both research and experience
demonstrates that effective advertisers can increase their market
share. They do so at the expense of their competitors, who lose
market share.

The United States Supreme court has held that public mass communications
cannot be kept at the level appropriate only for the sandbox. Alcohol
ads can’t be censored simply because they may be seen by large
numbers of citizens under the age of 21.

Some critics call for all portrayals of alcohol consumption in
TV programs to be followed by negative consequences following from
that consumption. Although well-meaning, these critics fail to make
the essential distinction between moderate and immoderate alcohol
consumption. Both abstaining and drinking in moderation are equally
acceptable behaviors. What is never acceptable under any circumstances
is the abuse of alcohol. Therefore, only the latter should be stigmatized.

Associating moderate consumption with inappropriate behavior is
likely to be counterproductive. People act in conformity to their
expectations. If they believe that drinking in moderation causes
people to act inappropriately, they will tend to act that way when
consuming even modest amounts. In experiments, people who are falsely
led to believe that they have been drinking more than a moderate
amount of alcohol tend to act intoxicated although they are completely
sober. Therefore, it’s important not to create the false belief
that moderate drinking causes people to act inappropriately.

On the other hand, it is appropriate to show that negative consequences
can flow from the abuse of alcohol. This is simply a reflection
of reality.

Reference:

Bradford, Julie Johnson. This ad’s
for you -- or is it? The News & Observer, February
17, 2006.